A Hero Rises
by JRWStudios
Summary: Alfred is your typical first responder: sleep deprived, underpaid, constantly stressed. Not like he really has time to not be stressed though, working as a firefighter, paramedic, and a police officer. In New York. His superiors don't know how he stays sane. Then the worst call imaginable comes in: a child is missing from a fire, and the kid's mother needs urgent medical attention.
1. Prologue

Prologue: A Typical Day...Right?

Alfred yawned as he stumbled into the glass and wood walled break room of the police station, nearly spilling his cup of coffee as his co-workers gave him worried looks from where the majority of them sat around one of the two plastic tables that made up their current dining set. Even the chief was concerned, getting up to walk over to the young blonde officer. The balding grey haired man wasn't one to show sympathy, even to children, so the fact that he was openly showing concern had the other officers on edge. The chief reached up to his face to rub his chin, before he put a hand on Alfred's shoulder, making him look up at him.

"Son, maybe you should take a few days off. You've been working so much lately, it can't be healthy." Chief Schuette frowned, trying to look stern. "Use those vacation days you've been saving, go to the beach or something."

"Whaddya mean? I'm fine, and you can't get rid of me that easily."

"Alfred, we saw you at that pile-up on Main yesterday." Another officer, Charlie stepped forward, running his fingers across the brown peach-fuzz he called hair. "Scarborough says he had to cuss you out after it."

"And at that structure fire last night. Dude, you still have ash in your hair and on your face." Arthur, the station's nearly bi-polar red-haired lieutenant frowned from where he stood by the coffee pot, watching it fill up. His green eyes narrowed when he looked over at his fellow officer again. "I'm sure Chief Cash hated you tracking all that soot through the station. Wouldn't he have made you clean yourself and the floor up?"

"Not to mention you were also at the shooting on 3rd two hours ago, and we know for a fact that you just left the hospital an hour ago. Your '99 mustang is pretty hard to miss with that massive American flag painted on it." Charlie chimed in again. "I responded to it too, and man you were still filthy when you arrived. Your supervisor probably told you to go to the hospital so you could get checked over and cleaned up, not to help out the other paramedics."

"Son, you barely had time to change from your paramedic uniform to your police and get from your apartment to here. Knowing you, there's no way you've taken any time to rest either." Chief Schuette shook his head. "I swear, if it's not Chase, it's you Jones."

"Chief Schuette, guys, I'm fine." Alfred chugged his coffee, then looked at them. "I'm just a little stressed right now because of how crazy this week has been. I've been jumping from job to job and now my landlord's threatening eviction because I'm hardly ever home."

"Stressed? Yeah, I bet you're tired too." the chief rolled his eyes. "You've got bags under your eyes darker than my coffee."

"Alfred, maybe you should take a few days off. Go visit your brother in Ottawa or something."

"No, I'm fine, and Matt's busier than I am." he tossed his empty cup in the trash, then made the others grow even more concerned when he took hold of the full pot of coffee on the burner, right before Arthur could grab it. "Shouldn't we all be working right now anyway?"

The chief exchanged looks with his officers as the blonde carried the pot out of the break room, watching him walk to his desk not far away. He sat heavily in his busted chair, staring blankly at his computer screen before he was able to remember his password. He typed away, only stopping every now and then to drink the straight black coffee from the stolen pot. His partner soon approached, sitting in the chair beside Alfred's desk. Rick Mourner, tall man with hair the color of grease and brown eyes that could be black in the dark or honey in the light, was the only man to ever successfully work alongside Alfred and his crazy schedule.

"Morning Al."

"Rick." he sighed, looking over. "You gonna try and tell me to take a vacation too?"

"Nope, no sense in trying to convince you." the man chuckled. "You're 'bout as hard-headed as they come."

"Thanks, at least you aren't being pushy about it." Alfred leaned back in his chair, kicking his feet up on his desk before he allowed his eyes to shut. "Man you would not believe the day I've had."

"Oh? Try me." Rick was well aware of the other officers creeping up around them, seeming to crawl out of the woodwork that was their station. Alfred's stories were always a subject of curiosity: he was the only man on the force that was involved in three major public safety jobs. As a firefighter, paramedic, and police officer, everyone was always eager to hear about what he had done recently, even if only to have some dirt on the other team when it came time for the annual First Responder Picnic between the three sides.

"Well the day before yesterday I was with the Fire Department, and it was pretty quiet. Then come yesterday, and I was just about to get off when we got a call about a cat stuck on a building ledge. No way down, and I still have no idea how it got where it was unless it fell off the roof and got lucky. Now I just gotten the cat, this little tabby, down to the girl that owned it, when a call comes over the radio about a five car pile-up on Main. Well we were a street over so we responded and low and behold, our own Officer Lance Scarborough is busy trying to put out a fire on his own car that is completely squashed in the middle of the other four. There's a family in the car on top of his hood and the fire has already melted the rubber from their tires to his hood. So he sees us arrive and starts yelling like a mad-man "get the brats! get the fucking brats! Don't worry about this!" So I'm running for the car, and Officer Baker pulls up, and he's just kinda gawking at me 'cause I'm trying to get the kids in the back seat to duck their heads and the mom is like half-out the front window because the wreck threw her through the glass.

Finally got all three of them out and find out they were the only ones hurt in the entire wreck and I mean their car was trashed. The only one that was worse off was Lance's, whose was trashed so badly you couldn't even call it messed up, more like shredded. Anyway we get everyone taking care of and they're off the hospital. We head back to the station and I was just turning in my report to Chief Cash when we get another call, a structure fire about three streets over. So I'm hopping in the trunk, dialing up my supervisor to let him know I'll be late and what happens? We get stopped and the hydrant is completely blocked. So they throw me behind the wheel while most of the men run inside to try and help people get out and Chief Cash is in the seat beside me just like "do what you gotta do kid" so I throw the thing in drive, hit the gas and ram this old ass buick out of the way and the guys are just hooting and hollering 'cause the owner is hanging off the fire escape cursing my ass out while we hook up the hoses."

"Sounds hilarious." Rick laughed.

"Yeah so we're pretty much out there until one in the morning before we finally get the fire out, and I mean we had trucks from all over the city helping us. Well we finally get out of there and I'm hurrying to get my gear put away so I get my paramedic uniform on, and I just got in my car to head over when Chief Cyr calls me up on my cell telling me to book it on over to 3rd 'cause there's been a shooting . Well I get over to it and help them stabilize the victims, but then he turns up and tells me to head to the hospital with them. I'm stuck following the ambulances through traffic to the hospital in my mustang which is nearly on empty because of the unplanned side-trip, only to be stuck with them helping out before a nurse finally pulls me aside and points me to the restroom telling me to get cleaned up. I'm in a rush now, so I'm just throwing paper towels under the faucet and using them to wash off whatever I can. Still did a shitty job though, so I'll have to shower later I know. Anyway we get everything settled when Cyr calls me and tells me that he talked to Cash and now he wants me to head home for the rest of the day. I guess Chief Schuette didn't hear 'cause he calls me up and asks if I can come in."

Chief Schuette Schuette scoffed. "I asked if you could come in tonight, not first thing."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Anyway! I head home to get cleaned up and changed, only to find out that my landlord is having the place fumigated, and I have about ten minutes to put all the food on my counter in the fridge and get in my uniform. I'm getting out of my apartment just in time for Brock to call again and let me know the dude's at the building, so I'm booking it down to the lobby 'cause that stuff their company uses always makes me have an allergy attack."

"Oh so that's why you came in early." Officer Charlie rubbed his neck. "No where else to go."

"Pretty much." the blonde took a big swig from the coffee pot that was substituting his coffee cup, but just as he was about to start talking again, he broke off to watch one of the secretaries walk in, looking absolutely bone tired as she walked toward the break room. Her long blonde hair wasn't even brushed, and it actually looked like it had bits of food in it. Her pine green eyes didn't give the guys even a slight glance before she disappeared into the other room. By then, the others were murmuring and shifting away from their blonde comrade's desk.

"Uh-oh."

"Jones got the coffee."

"And looks like Chase needs it hella bad."

The other officers dispersed to their desks, and just in time for the blonde woman to burst out of the break room. They had a damn good reason too: the woman was Savannah Chase, a woman who had passed through the Police Academy with record breaking achievements, partly thanks to her late-father, whom had been a Military Police. She could take someone out in a heartbeat, and the only reason she was a secretary instead of an officer was because of her son. So instead she worked some nights at a local diner, and you always knew when she had gotten off a late shift.

"Who took the last of the coffee?!"

Alfred quietly slid the coffee pot into his lap, his eyes never leaving his computer screen, even as she stalked over. Much to the amusement of his fellow officers the man went wide-eyed when his chair was suddenly jerked back, and his lap relieved of the still hot coffee pot.

"Damn it Jones, learn to stop and get your own damn coffee when you're coming in ahead of schedule." she glowered at him through unbrushed bangs. "Some of us don't have that kind of luxury."

"Your boss won't let you get some to go Savannah?" he pouted as she took away the magic elixir to make herself a cup.

"Hell no. That bastard is so cheap I'm surprised he doesn't make us split our tips." she muttered, soon returning the pot to him. "But I need the extra money for Davie."

"Yeah, must be hard feeding a teenage boy." Alfred chuckled. "I remember how much I ate, and yeesh it was a lot."

"He ate three big mac meals by himself the other day." she looked concerned. "Hopefully he won't turn out to be really lazy later otherwise those eating habits of his are come back to haunt him."

"Ha, yeah. Might want to see about getting him a gym membership and making him use it."

"You know what, I'll think about it." Savannah nodded, sipping on her coffee as she walked away. Alfred watched her disappear around a corner, only to turn back to retrieve the remaining coffee and find Arthur running away with it.

"Hey! Get back here!"


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Accident

Chief Schuette shook his head as he watched Alfred attempt to balance a spoon on his nose. It was clear both from his antics and the antics of his fellow officers that he boredom settling in after the early morning wrestling match for coffee rights was beginning to get to the officers, and there was nothing he could do about it. Although it seemed all that would soon be taken care of when a call finally came in: several officers were out the door so fast it made the ones that stayed behind exchange glances. Alfred, being one of those still at his desk, looked at Rick in surprise.

"Is it that bad around here? Usually everyone is fighting to not go out."

"Everyone's just eager to have something to do." the man continued scribbling on a notepad. "Boredom causes pandemonium around here, you know that."

"Yeah I do, but then why aren't we heading out?"

"Because you only just clocked in, and because I know better." his buddy smirked, tossing the pad to the desk. It slid across until Alfred smacked it, grimacing at the horribly drawn stick figures. "It's always the days that start out like this that turn sour later."

"True." he chuckled, folding a paper airplane. "So you're going to try and save your energy in case of a big one."

"Yeah."

"Well sorry Rick but it seems like you'll have to be saving it for yourself." the men looked up to see Savannah, her golden hair now cleaned and neatly brushed to lay over her shoulders. "Hey Jones, that paperwork you filed a few months ago? It went through."

Rick gave his partner a curious look. "Papers?"

Alfred ignored him, standing to take the file from the secretary as Chief Schuette approached. "And?"

"Congratulations, detective." Schuette put a hand on the man's shoulder as his partner suddenly leapt to his feet. Savannah stepped aside in shock, then shook her head and looked back at Alfred. The new detective looked over his files, then at his boss.

"Rick's still my partner?" he seemed disbelieving. "I thought detectives and street cops couldn't be classified as partners?"

"You two work too well together, so we're amending it this once. He'll still be considered your 'partner', but since he is still a street cop so he'll have to go on patrol with or without you depending on how things are that day." the older man looked between the younger ones. "So don't get used to riding along everyday."

Savannah nodded, glancing at the dark haired man from the corner of her eye. "So Rick you can sit back down and stop looking like you've seen a ghost or something."

She didn't miss the dirty look he sent her as he slowly sat back down in his seat, but it seemed as though the other men did as they began to discuss other things, from Alfred's new duties to other such things. The woman frowned, narrowing her eyes at the brunette before she turned on her heel and walked away, but something made her stop dead in her tracks. It was the sudden halt of her clicking high heels made all three men look at her, however they were partly surprised to see an officer escorting a badly bruised raven haired boy into the precinct, hands cuffed behind his back and his green eyes narrowed as blood streamed from his lip and ear. His clothes were torn, but what remained of an emblem on the tan sweater vest revealed him to be a student at a local private school. He was told to stay right outside the office area, and as he looked around his eyes landed on the shocked blonde woman. He went wide-eyed himself, then frowned.

"Mom..."

"Davie Chase!" she exclaimed as she ran over, the three men following. "Oh honey what happened?!"

The officer whom had led him in tried to approach, but Savannah sent a glare his way. The man froze dead, raising his hands as if to defend himself. The woman narrowed her eyes, making even her son take a step back.

"I don't want a word from you until I hear it from him, Dylan Russell."

Davie sighed, giving his mother a relieved look once he realized he wasn't in trouble with her. "Finally someone who will listen... I was leaving the band room after class and I tripped over some kid's physics project, some little car thing. Well when I tripped I fell into Levi Stone."

Savannah gasped. "That jock that sent you to the ER last semester?! He's still in the system?"

"Yeah, well he didn't seem to like that it was an accident, and started a big this fuss about it saying I tried to choke him. He started swinging, and that's when his little posse jumped me in the hallway. Some of them held me back while Levi and some of the others pummeled me. That's why I'm all beat up like this, they even ripped out my piercings, and if I wasn't in these cuffs I'd show you the spots where the ones holding me ripped my hair out."

She hissed as she searched his head, finding large patches all over. "Then why aren't they here instead of you?"

"Because the principle walked up as I fought back and knocked that dumbass out." Davie scowled, licking away the blood on his lip. "I did exactly what you told me to do last time."

"So where is he now?" his mother gave Alfred a grateful glance when he retrieved a first aid kit from his desk. As she cleaned up his scrapes and cuts, the detective gave the boy a sympathetic glance.

"On his way to the hospital with a broken wrist and a bloody nose." Davie scowled, narrowing his eyes at the blonde standing behind his mother. "His little friends scattered as soon as he hit the ground."

Now poor Officer Russell found himself to be the subject of her glare once again. "Did you even ask him what happened?"

"I tried, but he wouldn't talk to me!" the taller man shrunk away, running his hand through his thick brown hair. But Davie rolled his eyes, making the bruises around his left eye suddenly pop out under the florescent lights.

"You didn't ask me shit except my name, address, and date of birth. Oh, and for my licence which I kinda want back, thanks."

Savannah looked at her son, then back at the officer who was all too quick to hand her her son's ID. "Uncuff him so I can take him home. And Davie, I'll look into finding a new school for you."

"Thanks mom, but uh, can we not go home yet?" he looked at the floor. "One of his friends threatened to be waiting with his dad's revolver."

Alfred stepped up, putting a hand on Savannah's shoulder. "Me 'nd Rick will go check around your place and make sure it's alright. Hey Davie, would you mind riding with us so you can point out anyone who shouldn't be there?"

"Mom?"

She nodded. "Jones'll take care of you. He knows better than to cross me."

The man laughed, giving her son a nod. "Yeah I do. Hey, tell you what, we'll stop on the way to your place and grab some Mickey's."

"Big Mac?"

"Big Macs." the boy seemed pleased to follow the detective and his partner as soon as he was released from his cuffs. He actually followed eagerly, even allowing Alfred to sling an arm around his neck to chat with him like they were old friends or something. With a slight pang of fear, watching Rick glance back at her before they disappeared in the elevator, she turned to Chief Schuette, meeting his concerned expression with a worried one of her own.

"Sir, would it be alright if I took a few days off to try and get Davie's situation under control?"

"Take as much time as you need. But, I would suggest asking Jones to help out. He's got a way with kids."

"I'll think about it."


	3. Chapter 2

A Heroine for a Hero

Chapter 2: Signs of Trouble

Savannah sighed as she drove through the almost empty streets of New York, looking ahead with a blank gaze as she thought about her son. She was kind of worried about him, especially when Rick had returned to the precinct _alone_. He hadn't said a word to her when he had come back, but she had overheard him speaking to the chief about it. Savannah was left with no choice but to stay at her desk until she was finally given permission to leave, and then she was hurrying home as fast as she could (legally) with only her worries in mind. When she finally parked her car and was able to enter her building, she did so in such a hurry the doorman could barely get out a greeting to her. He stopped her at the elevator, keepingt he doors from shutting.

"Mrs. Chase!" the handsomely dressed old man pulled his cap off. "Are you aware your son was brought home by an officer earlier?"

"An? Weren't there two?" she looked at him curiously, but with an irked look.

"No, just a blonde one. An officer Jones?" the greying man arched his brow. "He hasn't come back down yet."

" _Detective_ Jones was one of the officers that escorted my son home from the station. If he's stayed until I arrive, then there must be a reason. So, if I may, Jenkins?"

"Oh, right, my bad ma'am." he stepped out, and the doors finally closed to allow the elevator to ascend. She tore past the doors the second they were open, and whipped across the hall to her home. The door was opened so fast the guys on the couch didn't even realize it had come open, not until the near hysterical woman appeared seemingly out of nowhere behind them, sighing in relief when she saw that they were in the middle of one of Davie's favorite video games.

"Jones!" the man jumped up from the couch, but then twisted around to glare at the screen when it went red.

"Dang!"

Davie laughed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Get reckt Jones!"

"You sneaky little twerp!" Alfred reached over and rubbed the boy's head. "Fine, you win this round, but I'll get you soon enough."

"Yeah right!" his hand was knocked away. "I'd like to see you try old man!"

"Who you calling old brat?!"

Savannah ducked in between the two, giving her co-worker an annoyed look. "There a reason why you decided to stay?"

"Yeah," the man grinned. "Your son mentioned this game, and when I said I played it too, he decided to challenge me to a match. Well we ended up not getting anywhere and I kinda lost track of time."

"Why did Rick leave you here?"

"He didn't, we walked down from the Mickey D's 'cause he got a call and had to run."

"That's not what he said..." she frowned, straightening up. "He told Chief he dropped you off here with my son after you said you wanted to stay here until I got back."

"No." now Alfred just looked confused, but Davie intervened.

"Hey mom, Alfred and me got in an eating contest!"

"Oh really?" Savannah gave her son a smile as the man walked out from around the couch. "Who won?"

"Tie." both the guys chimmed together, then looked at each other. The woman shook her head, giving Alfred a slight smile.

"Thanks Jones."

"No problem. Let me know if he ever needs something."

"Sure thing." the pair watched the detective walk out, giving them a wave before he shut the door behind himself. Davie grinned up at his mom, making her cringe when the tear on his lip became clearly seen.

"I like him. He's cool."

"Yeah, he is, isn't he?" she mused, giving her son a kiss on the cheek. "Go get cleaned up and get to bed. I'm taking you out of the school system tomorrow after I give your principle a piece of my mind."

"Go get 'em mom."

"Oh I plan on it." she ruffled his hair before heading to the kitchen. "Go on, go do what you gotta do."

"Yeah."

Meanwhile, Alfred was left feeling just as concerned as Savannah had been when she entered her building. He was quick to make his way back to the PD, and was lucky enough to make it across town just in time to catch his buddy as he was clocking out.

"Hey Al! You made it back!" Rick smirked, giving him a mock salute. "I'm heading home. Got a TV dinner in the freezer calling my name."

"Yeah, yeah, hey uh, one thing though, before you leave." it was clear that Rick was surprised when Alfred grabbed his arm, stopping him from moving another inch. "You tell Chief you dropped me off at the apartment?"

"No way, I told him what happened. I got a call, and had to leave you and the kid at MD's." he was lying, but he was lying well. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason." Alfred shook his head. "Just thought I'd see if you'd covered your ass or not."

"Haha, no way. There's no lying to Schuette."

"True. See ya later bud."

"Later _detective_." Rick was just a little _too quick_ leave to keep Alfred's suspicions from growing further. A little peeved, the blonde went into the station, and marched right up to his boss's office. He knocked on the door, and as soon as he was given permission stepped right on in. Schuette looked up when he heard the door close, and was a bit curious to see the man standing there in front of his desk.

"Jones?"

"Chief Schuette, did Rick tell you he dropped me off at the apartment with Davie?"

"Well, yes." he put down his coffee cup. "Why?"

"Because he lied." Alfred put his hand down on the cold wood of the desk. "He said he got a call while we were at McDonalds and had to leave. Davie and I _walked_ to the apartment from there, because he left before I could say anything."

Now Chief was really curious. "Now why would he do that, and lie to me?"

"I don't know, and I don't feel like stirring up trouble, but I thought you should know what really happened." The blonde shook his head, turning to leave.

"I'll keep an eye on him then... Alfred, be careful."

"Yes sir."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Threats Aren't Always Empty

"I'm telling you man, Chief Schuette's been giving this… this look all morning since I came in."

"Are you sure you're not just imagining it?" Alfred yawned, only half-listening to what Rick was saying. "Doesn't he have that one look he gives everybody in the morning?"

"Nah man, it's like he watching me." the man gave his partner a concerned look.

"He's watching everyone Rick." now the blonde was just getting annoyed. He had been asleep on the breakroom table with a cold pot of coffee until only ten minutes prior. "Please tell me you didn't wake me up just because chief is suddenly giving you the willies."

"I'm serious!"

"So am I." he muttered. "I dunno, maybe he's just wanting to see how we work around things."

"Sure, sure."

"Haha I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Good, you're starting smell pretty ripe man."

"Shut up." Alfred smacked his partner's shoulder as he passed by, heading for a back hallway, and ultimately for the lockerroom. He made a quick stop by his locker before heading into the back to where the showers were for the overnight shifts. It wasn't long before he was able to unwind under the steady flow of hot water, but his peace was cut short when he heard his cellphone ringing. He decided to ignore it, so it wasn't long before the ringing ceased, but only a few minutes later he heard a new tone begin to blare. It was a tone for calls with a high priority or emergency setting, so he hurried to get out of the shower without breaking his neck. He barely missed it, and decided to throw on his uniform as he went to his voicemail.

{Hey Alfred, this is Savannah. Remember your offer yesterday night? Well if you're not busy I could use a hand...} Alfred froze, his hand still stuck in the waistband of his slacks where he was trying to tuck in his black undershirt. {I'm at Davie's old school right now, uh he's here too. We came out to get in the car and leave but all the tires are slashed.}

He didn't wait to hear anymore. His phone was stuffed in his pocket so he could grab his shoes and a shirt and dash out of the locker room. Other officers looked at him like he was crazy, yelling little jokes after him as he hurried to the elevator, and even Rick seemed concerned. He made it into his car in record time, and found himself thinking back to the voicemail.

Now, only half dressed, he was hurrying to Davie's school (now old school) to give the boy and his mother a ride to a car shop. He arrived just in time to see the tow truck taking her lexus away, the pair standing on the side of the road and pulled up to them. The two exchanged relieved looks as they slid into his mustang, and as soon they were buckled in he was taking off again, though he didn't miss the concerned grunt Savannah gave when she had to move his tossed aside boots to the backseat in order to sit down in the front.

But he ignored her looked."What happened?"

"We came out from getting his papers, and the tires had been slashed." Savannah looked ticked. "Thankfully insurance will cover it, but I'm just worried. I don't know who would've done it."

"Want a list?" Davie muttered in the back.

"Actually yes." Alfred glanced at him through the rear-view. "Can you make one?"

"Of course I can."

The woman up front nodded. "He always gets the full names. I taught him well."

"Yes you did." the man glanced at her, pulling up at the car shop. "You go get your car but... would you mind if I took Davie home? I want to talk to him where he doesn't have to worry about you storming up to the school with a pistol."

"I would never!" she huffed. "But fine."

"See you at home mom." Davie kissed his mom on the cheek as he took her spot in the front seat. "Love you."

"Love you too Davie." she ruffled his hair before darting off after a mechanic. Left alone, the boys started toward their apartment. They rode in silence for a few minutes, the only noise coming from the radio, until Alfred cut it off.

"Davie, I want you to listen to me, and listen good. When you write that list, I want you to write down every threat made against you recently, and any odd things that have happened, no matter how meaningless you think it might be."

"Why?" the boy looked concerned.

"I have a bad feeling about Savannah's tires being slashed the day after you get jumped in the hallway." he glanced at him. "It may just be me, but if the two are connected you'll thank me later."

"Alright, I'll trust you on this."

"Not a word to your mother until I know for sure. Just... be careful? And keep an eye on her."

"Of course." Davie watched Alfred pull up to the building. "Don't worry, I got it."

"Good." the detective watched the lad climbed out of the car. "Send the list with your mom, but put it in an envelope."

"Okay." As soon as he was at the door of the building, his chaperone tore out, speeding back toward the precinct. Savannah arrived soon after, and met her son at the elevators. She gave him a look, and it was one he knew all too well.

"He was just worried about you mom." Davie allowed her to enter the elevator ahead of him. "He wanted to tell me to keep an eye on you."

"Uh-huh," she narrowed her eyes. "You're a horrible liar."

"That's because I'm not lying, I'm just not telling you everything. And before you ask, no, I don't plan on telling you everything." the boy smirked. "But don't worry, I know what I'm doing."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Help! Somebody! Please Help Us!

Alfred muttered as he climbed behind the wheel of his mustang, aiming to swing by Savannah's and get that list of names from Davie on his way to the fire department for his turn on the night shift. Davie had called earlier to let him know he had finished it, and the man wanted to start looking at it as soon as he could. He couldn't shake the unmistakable feeling of dread that would enter him when he thought about Savannah and her son, and it had him on edge. However, an even worse feeling struck him, as he was about ten minutes away. Something was wrong, and he couldn't figure out what.

He had no idea what was happening at Savannah's apartment, and honestly, neither did she.

Davie looked up from his book in surprise when a knock sounded on his door, but as he got up to answer it, he was even more surprised to find his nose assualted by the strong scent of alcohol. It made him hesitate, and shrink over to the nearby book case. He quietly opened a little lock box, and withdrew his mother's stungun. With it in hand and ready to fire, he went back to the door and opened it slightly, keeping the majority of it in front of him like a shield. Now he found himself surprised again. The boy looked at the person standing in the doorway, and he knew he was being examined as well. That's why, when the arrival stepped forward, Davie's arm popped up and he fired the stungun, but the other man saw it and knocked his hand causing the gun to missfire into the wall beside the door. The man shoved Davie back, and the teen's fight or flight response kicked in as he stumbled back, making him turn on his heel and flee for his bedroom some ten feet away.

Davie heard the attacker follow quickly, and before he could shut his door there was a rag covering his nose and mouth. Immediately realizing that the rag must be doused in chloroform, Davie held his breath and tried to fight and escape. He was unable to, however, before the attacker kneed him in tha back, and the lad's sudden intake of air from the pain forcing him to breath in the chemicals. He quickly collapsed, and barely registered the strong smell of alcohol before he blacked out completely.

One room over, in her shower, Savannah was completely oblivious to her son being dragged from the apartment, the hard running water bouncing off the tiles made her deaf to everything outside of her own thoughts. But then something made her cut off her water. She could smell smoke through the strong scent of her body wash, and that was very weird.

"Davie?" she called. "Did we forget to turn off the oven again?"

She didn't get a reply, but that didn't strike her as odd. Davie often lost himself in his music, and went hours without realizing his mother had ever said a word to him. For some reason though, this time it made her worried. With their floor's smoke alarm system on the fritz, she didn't want there to actually be a fire, and be unable to get her son.

So she stepped out of the shower, and was reaching for a towel when her head shot up. There was a sound like an explosion above her, and fire shot down from her ceiling with rubble coming with it. A single piece of flaming debris landed in front of her, and as she lurched back another piece, this time a large metal beam, fell through on top of her, making her collapse and popping her knees out of place as she was folded over under the pressure. She could feel the metal burning into her skin, and it made her scream.

But by this time Alfred had already entered one of her building's two elevators, and didn't see the smoke beginning to pour out the upper levels. However, he soon heard a loud beeping sound, and recognized it as a fire alarm, just before the elevator stalled between the third and fourth floor. His adrenaline kicked in, and Alfred began struggling to open the elevator doors. He sent up a thankful prayer when the old doors were opened easily, and began to pull himself out onto the fire engulfed fourth floor. He looked across through the flames to where Savannah's apartment should have been, and pulled his shirt up to cover his nose and mouth as he ran through the fire to get in through a burned out wall. Savannah's screams reached him from the back, but he knew she wouldn't come with him without her son. He dashed around the place, coming up empty before hurrying into Savannah's room. Alfred only paused to grab a little heart shaped jewelry box as he dashed through her room toward her screams. He ripped the weakened door from it's frame, and was shocked to find the woman pinned naked under a metal support beam.

"Savannah!"

"A-Alfred! Where's Davie?! Get Davie!"

"He's not here! He might have gotten out already!" Alfred dashed over, and hissed in pain as the metal burned him as he lifted it off of her. As soon as she was freed the man pulled off his shirt and forced it on her bare form, then carefully lifted her up. Savannah was losing touch already, and he could tell. From the amount of ash and the intensity of her burns, she must've been trapped for at least five minutes or more.

But he couldn't focus on that, he was busy trying to get her out of there. He first went for the stairwell, but found the stairs quickly becoming engulfed in flames from debris falling from above. So he went next to the fire escape on the side of the building, but the sheer amount of people fighting down it had left it damaged, and many more scared inhabitants were actually jumping off. As he judged how long it would take him to get her down, he felt her beginning to hack, coughing up some blood onto his bare, ash covered chest. Through the crackling flames and the paniced people, though, he heard something he had been hoping to hear since he heard the alarm.

Fire trucks were on the scene, and that changed everything. He knew that it would be his station that responded - they were the closest afterall - and his fellow firemen would recognize his car right away. They would know he was inside, and work faster to control the fire. Acting on a mixture of impulse and instinct, Alfred forced his way into an empty apartment across from Savannah's, and made his way with the woman to one of the bedrooms. Glad to see a window there, he kicked out the frame, warped from the heat, and sat on the ledge.

"Guys! Guys!" he cried out. "Set the net! I've got an injured woman and can't get down! Set the net!"

He could see some of his fellow fighters dash to the truck, and within moments they stretched a large catch net below their position. Had it been under better circumstances, Alfred would have cracked a joke about being the test dummy, and how they had just set a new record for how fast they had the net out and set, but for now he just held Savannah a little closer.

"Can you hold onto me? Savannah?"

The woman's grasp was weak, but his was not. He held her as close as he could, as tight as he could without hurting her, as he eased his way quickly onto the window edge. Without a second thought, he pushed off, and twisted around so he hit the net some forty feet below with Savannah cradled in his arms. She was carefully taken away by paramedics before Alfred could get back to his feet, and when he did he dashed over to Chief Cash.

"Chief! I need you to ask everyone here if they have seen a young teenage boy named Davie. About five foot eleven with black hair and green eyes, pierced lip and left ear, usually a choker too. He's got some bruises on his face and neck too. That woman I just jumped with, he's her son. He wasn't in her apartment and I need to know where he is ASAP. There have been threats against him recently."

"Threats? Nevermind," the older man sighed, rubbing his stubbled cheek. "I'll start asking. You jumped from four right?"

"Yes, as soon as the fire's out get men up there to search what's left. Her apartment is, er, was directly opposite the elevator shaft."

"Got it."

With his chief in the clear Alfred dashed over to the ambulance that was holding Savannah, glad to see her covered by a blanket. She had a mask over her face, but it didn't stop Alfred from cringing. The fire had left the left side of her face mostly burnt, and the hair on that side of the face and head was mostly nonexistant as well. But she was awake, and her eyes glanced over to him.

"Davie?"

"No sign of him." Alfred climbed in and grabbed her hand. "He wasn't in the apartment when I went in, so I'm hoping he got out. Don't worry Savannah, I'm going to find him."

"Hey Alfred, c'mere a minute." Chief Cash had come up to the ambulance, and Alfred climbed out to see what he wanted. The chief wrapped an arm around the blonde's neck, and pulled him close.

"There's no sign of the kid, but the doorman said he saw a kid dressed in all black enter the building, then exit about ten minutes later with a kid matching the discription you gave me. He said it was about three minutes before the alarm went off."

"He didn't think it was odd?"

"Apparently the other kid had dragged him out, and he could smell alcohol on the kid you asked about. He said he thought the kid had been at a party, and had been too drunk to come down on his own."

"Okay, was this dragged kid wearing any significant clothing?"

"A pair of dark pants and a hoodie with a German flag on it."

"Alright. Go ask the doorman to head down to the station, I need to talk to Savannah." and as soon as the chief was gone, Alfred climbed back into the ambulance and helped the paramedics get everything set.

"Savannah, was Davie wearing dark pants and a German hoodie when you last saw him?"

"Yeah, it was his favorite hoodie. His father brought it to him from Berlin." She gave a slight nod, but cringed. "Where was he?"

"Savannah... I think he's gone. Your doorman saw another kid drag Davie out of the building before the fire started."

"Alfred..." he leaned down to the woman as she coughed.

"Savannah?"

She reached up and grabbed his throat, making the other paramedics freeze in confusion and worry. "Find my son... Or else."

"I won't fail you Savannah." Alfred pulled her hand away and gently placed it over her stomach. "You'd kill me if I didn't."

"You know me too well."

"Alfred," one of the paramedics, a small redhaired woman with a tan too dark for a city slicker, put a hand on his shoulder. "We need to get her to the hospital and you need to get to work."

"Yeah. Take care of her Selena!" the man leaned down to rest his forehead on his co-worker's shoulder, then quickly got out of the vehicle. He ran over to Chief Cash, but was dismissed.

"You got a kid to find! We'll collect everything from her apartment when we get this under control."

"Thanks!" and just like that, Alfred was in his car and racing toward the police station.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Questions

Alfred growled as he stormed past shocked and worried officers at his station, most of them no doubt worrying about his ashy and bare chested appearance as he tracked soot through the station on his way to a waiting room. The doorman from Savannah's building, Jenkins, was there, and he stood when Alfred approached.

"Detective Jones."

"Yeah," Alfred's tone was curt, annoyed, and it made his fellow officers wonder what had happened. "Look, Jenkins, I'm going to be straight with you here. Davie Chase might have been kidnapped, and you are the only one on scene that saw the one that took him. I'm going to need you to write a description of the kid that took Davie out, and every single detail of what happened. Then, I'm going to have you meet our sketch artist, and you're going to give the description again."

"Anything I can do to help," the old man frowned. "I feel awfully bad about letting it happen, but I honestly didn't realize it was little Davie that had been dragged out by that other kid. I guess I should have, he's worn that German hoodie almost every night since his father died."

"His father?"

"Yes, Lucas Chase, he died just after 9/11, when he was sent to Iraq."

"I see... Anyhow, could you go sit in that room over there? I'll have someone bring you a paper and pen soon."

"Of course, of course!" Jenkins smiled sadly, and touched Alfred's arm. "Detective, make sure you don't let Ms. Chase down alright?"

"She'd kill me if I did!" Alfred pulled away and walked past his fellow officers, heading for the lockerroom. Some of the men he had been serving with for a while followed him, one of them being Chief Schuette. As Alfred dropped his clothes in a bin they were slightly confused to see him put his boots in a plastic bag and tie it shut. He grabbed a marker from his locker to scribble something on the plastic before heading for the shower. Chief Schuette and Officer Lance Scarborough stood outside of the stall.

"Kid, what's going on? That doorman showed up and said Chief Cash had sent him up on the orders of a detective, and now you're telling him to write a description and talk to Shelly?"

"And what's Chase got to do with it?" Lance scowled. "That woman couldn't possibly be in trouble could she?"

"No but her son is." Alfred cut the water off, and reached out to grab a clean towel. Schuette handed it to him, and waited until the damp blonde stepped out with it around his waist. "Savannah's building caught fire and her son was dragged out just before it happened. Oh, hey Baker, could you take my boots to the lab? I need them tested for traces of alcohol."

Lance watched the small officer take the bag and dart off, leaving him confused. "Alcohol?"

"The doorman said he could smell alcohol on Davie. I'm betting it was used to help the fire spread." the blonde shook his head, sending water drops everywhere as he started for his locker. "There's no way it's just a coincidence that Davie was taken right before the fire."

Schuette watched Alfred dress, crossing his arms. "Well, what can we do to help?"

"The boys are still trying to get the fire under control. Put a call out to have everyone in the area questioned. Lance, I want you to go up there with Baker and watch over Savannah. Take one of the other secretaries up with you to make a list of any names Davie ever mentioned. Send it back to me when she gets it." he looked over at the others as he sat to pull on his shoes. "Finding Davie should be a top priority, but we need to be careful about how we put his name out. Let his new and old schools know, have the old one ask for anyone with information about it to come forward. Teenagers talk alot, some one might have heard something."

As everyone darted off to get to work, Chief Schuette put a hand on the detective's shoulder. "Alfred, look at me."

The man did as he was told, and was surprised to see his chief look concerned and slightly sad. "Chief?"

"Alfred, you and Chase have gotten pretty close since you took her son home that day. I know you stayed there with him until she got home, and I know you went and picked them up when her tires were slashed yesterday. Here it is again, you arrive just in time to jump into action and get her out."

"Davie called me, and said he had a list of names ready for me. I asked him to make one after Savannah's tires were slashed outside his old school. It just felt wrong, and I wasn't sure they were safe anymore."

"You wanted to keep an eye on them."

"Well, yeah." Alfred nodded. "I guess I was just worried."

"And now I am too. You've always had good instincts, so I'll let you make the calls on this."

"Good, because Savannah'll kill me if I don't bring him home alive."

Schuette laughed, ruffling the blonde's hair as he made his way by him to exit. "And she might just kiss you if you do!"

The detective chuckled, brushing past his partner as he entered, breathing hard and looking rather disheveled. He had a fresh bruise on his cheek bone and a small cut on his cheek, but it was the look in his eyes that made Alfred pause.

"Rick are you okay?"

"No dude! I heard you jumped out a window! I hurry my ass up to get here, damn near taking out my eye on a cabinet door I forgot was open, only to get here and find out 'oh no he's down stairs taking a shower but Chase is in the hospital and her son is missing from a structure fire!' I mean really, what's going on today?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

"Are you serious?" Rick grabbed his buddy's shoulder as he passed him. "Chief Schuette is still letting you work the case?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"You're too close to it! That would cloud the judgement of any reasonable cop!"

"I can't afford to have a clouded view right now Rick, but maybe you should go ahead and check yours."

"Savannah? Savannah are you awake?" a soft voice reached the ears of the woman on the hospital bed. She cringed, but opened her eyes as she tilted her head. Approaching her was another secretary, Maggie Lewis, the sixty year old grandmother that everyone who came through the station loved dearly. She was a grey-haired sweetheart with soft hazel eyes that could calm anyone down. The woman approached the bed, and put a shakey hand on the uncovered shoulder of the younger woman.

"Oh dear, you poor thing. Seeing you like this almost makes me wish I hadn't volunteered..."

"Volunteered for what Granny M?"

"Oh Savannah, that Jones boy didn't even wait to put a shirt on before he got to work. He walked into the station and started giving orders before everyone else even found out what happened."

"Oh... then you're here to..?"

"To get names dear, names of anyone Davie mentioned. Alfred wants them immediately."

"I see... Well, I guess I should give them to you."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Unusual Tip

"Hey Jones, there's a kid from Davie's old school here to talk to you." Alfred muttered as he lifted his head from his desk. He must have passed out, because it was daylight now and Arthur was shaking his shoulder. He looked past him, eyeing the tall, well-built teenager standing there in his school uniform.

"Oh? Well have a seat kid." he straightened up, pulling a notepad out as the boy sat down. He had a strange look in his hazel eyes, and his short ash brown hair was disheveled. He also had a bruise on his cheek, and it caught Alfred's attention.

"You... you wouldn't happen to be Levi Stone would you? The one that attacked Davie Chase the other day?"

"Yeah, I am." Davie's name made him cringe. "I really didn't mean to hurt him that badly but... it got out of hand..."

"Hm, so why are you here now?"

"I heard some of my friends talking about the fire at Davie's. One of them said he knew Davie had been kidnapped right before it started. But... well he brought it up _before_ it was announced."

"And you came to tell me?"

"Well yeah, I mean I figured with the attack the other day me and my pals would be suspects anyway but I didn't think one of us would have actually done something like this. But when he started making jokes about how Davie's reaction to everything it just didn't sit right."

"Does this friend have a name?"

"Brad, Brad Pierce." Levi seemed confused when the detective produced a sheet of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it and looked it over, then handed it to Levi.

"Do any of this other names seem significant?"

"No just Brad, but Shelley Martin is his girlfriend. If you can't find Brad, you can always ask her." he handed the sheet back. "And Justin Sampson hasn't been in the state for the last month. He's in Florida right now."

"Florida?"

"Yeah, he keeps sending pictures and stuff too, and the auto-check in on his phone keeps lighting up at places in Panama City."

"Alright. So about Brad." Alfred folded his hands together. "Do you know of any reason he would do this?"

"He hates Davie, flat-out." Levi sighed, rubbing his neck. "It's kinda my fault though... shouldn't have told him..."

"Told him _what_?" now the man was curious, and he leaned forward. "Levi, what did you tell Brad that would make him hate Davie?"

"I, well I... uhm..." now the teen turned shy, and his face was lit up with a blush. The reaction itself answered Alfred's question, and he waved his hand to make the boy stop.

"I see. Well, can you provide a picture of Brad?"

"I had them print one out while I was at the office waiting for the officer to come get me." he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it over. Picking up the sketch of the suspect Jenkins had provide the night before, Alfred could see several imediate similarities, not that he was about to tell Levi.

"Thanks. Now, does brad know you came to speak to us?"

"No, I told them I wasn't feeling well and was going to go check myself out. Pretty sure he bought it."

"Good. Go on home and tell your parents. And if something comes up, here's my card. My personal number is on the back if it's urgent." Levi hesitantly took the card from the detective, but when he stood, he didn't move.

"Detective?"

"Hm?"

"I know I probably shouldn't ask this, but could you tell me where Mrs. Chase is? I want to apologize to her..."

The blonde chuckled, shaking his head. "Sure thing kid, she's at Memorial."

"Thanks." as the teen turned to leave, Alfred's attention diverted to the photo on his desk. He stood to walk over to the breakroom, and put a hand on the shoulder of the distracted Arthur, whom sat at a table eating.

"Arthur, can you go pick up Brad Pierce for me? Have him call his parents and tell them to meet us here."

"On it." just like that, the redhead was out the room, leaving his mess behind. And when Alfred went to pick it up, he realized why.

"Oh real mature Kirkland! Stealing food is low man!"


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Suspect

They were upset, he could tell. The parents of Brad Pierce were sitting in front of the detective, glaring at him as they listened to the radio, hearing every move of the police officers using it as their home was searched for their missing son. Alfred cut down the volume as soon as the house and the surrounding land was cleared.

"Where is he?"

"Why should we tell you?" Brad's mother huffed, crossed her arms. The woman was a fiesty little brunette, standing about chest high on Alfred, but with a glare that made it clear she was used to taking on the world's bullshit. "We don't have to."

"Actually, Mrs. Pierce, you do." Alfred, pulled off his glasses, letting the parents see the bags under his bright blue eyes. "He is under the age of eighteen, and is a suspect in an arson and kidnapping. You are required by law to tell me where he is, or else you will be imprisoned for impeeding an investigation."

"Honey," the father put a hand on his wife's shoulder, then looked at the detective. "We don't know where he is officer. He called last night and said he'd be home soon, but then he never showed up, and we can't find him because the E911 locater on his phone has been disabled."

Mrs. Pierce nodded. "However, we know he was at school today because we weren't called."

"Tell about what he did in the hours leading up to the call."

Mr. Pierce sat back in his chair. "It was fairly normal, he came home from school did his work then went out with friends."

"But he was out late, and that's why he called us. He said he got held up talking with a friend, uhm, Davie something."

"Davie Chase?"

"Yeah, that's the name."

Alfred pinched the bridge of his nose. "Davie Chase... is the boy who was kidnapped from the fire. It is now the upmost importance that we find your son, and find out whether or not he was directly involved with the incident... Thank you for coming, and should Brad come home you should call us or bring him directly here, but do not let him know about anything we have just spoken about."

"Of course."

"Mrs. Chase?" Savannah muttered, opening her eyes to watch a teenage boy walk over. "I-I know I'm probably one of the last people you want to see right now, but I wanted to come apologize for what happened to Davie the other day."

"Who're you?" Savannah tried to make out the features of the boy, but everything was blurry from the medicine in her system. "How do you know Davie?"

"I'm the kid who beat him up." she saw the boy sit beside her bed. "But I didn't mean to. My friends, if I can even call them that anymore, they kinda pushed me into fighting him, I tried to take it easy on him so he could get away, but then he started fighting back and my friends grabbed him. They tore him up good, but the only way I could get him away was for me to attack him. I pretended to slip up and miss, and he did get away from them, but then he got me back."

"I taught him to fight back."

"You taught him well."

"Why are you here?"

"Like I said, to apologize. It's my fault all this is happening, all because I told one of my friends about a stupid little crush. Now he's out for blood."

Alfred paced back and forth in front of the whiteboard that had been set up behind his desk, thinking about the new information that had been gathered since the meeting with the Pierce folks. It was going on twenty-eight hours since the fire, and it had him worried, but a few things had popped up to help him.

The fire fighters had found the remains of a stun gun, shot from inside the living room towards the door before it had been tossed aside. Davie had tried to defend himself, then ran to his bedroom, where the door had been broken into by something other than debris. The arson investigator had also made a discovery, burn patterns and other things Alfred didn't care to try to repeat had proven his earlier suspicion: alcohol had been poured first in the center of Davie's room, then trailed out to the stove and then to the door where the empty, charred bottle had been discovered, partly broken with pieces in the drywall.

"So whoever took the kid, tried to break the bottle and hoped the fire would destroy the rest?" Another detective, a tall, athlete brunette woman named Kelly spoke up from a chair behind him. Kelly had been assigned to work alongside the new detective by the chief, and had helped him set up a proper timeline of the events. "Whoever did this wasn't very bright."

"No, they weren't, but they must have had some kind of back-up plan. What if it had been Savannah that answered, or another resident spotted them during the attack. I think they just wanted to get in the apartment fast, and get out with what appeared to be an alibi. The only problem is Davie wasn't wearing anything generic, he was wearing something everybody knew was his."

"The German hoodie?"

"The German hoodie that he had worn for _years_." Alfred frowned. "Now if only we could find Brad..."

"Detective Jones?" Dylan stepped up. "We have. We found Brad Pierce."


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Unexpected Turn

"We found Brad Pierce."

Alfred's frown vanished as he heard Dylan say that. "Where is he?"

Arthur frowned as he stepped up beside the other officer. "About three flours below you."

Kelly gasped, looking at her temporary partner. "The ME's office?"

Dylan walked over to hand the crime-scene photos to the blonde. "We found him in an alley not far from those old abandoned apartments, you know, the ones planned on being scrapped next month? We already searched the place, but all we could find was this."

Alfred felt his blood run cold as the clear evidence bag was held up. Inside was that faded German hoodie Davie had been wearing, blood smeared across the front. "So Davie was there?"

"We think so, but there are no cameras in the area, not even on the ATM across the street. The area is so bad, people just stopped caring."

"What about Brad's body? Any clues?" Kelly put a hand on Alfred's shoulder as his clearly crestfallen look betrayed him.

"Not a one, hell, all we know is that he was cut open by something and bled out." Dylan rubbed his neck. "It happened in one part of the building, but he was bleeding out so fast he barely made it into the alley before keeling over."

Arthur nodded. "We followed the trail back to the place where it happened and found a pair of boots burning in an old barrel. They're at the lab now, but we can tell you they were the same kind we get assigned with our uniforms."

Alfred looked down at his boots, cringing when he saw how dull he had allowed them to become. "So they had issued boots? Are there any stores you can get them?"

"No, they have to be ordered and you have to provide a genuine badge number or precinct information. But get this, your buddy Rick? Yeah, some of his boots went missing a few weeks back when his house was mysteriously broken into while he was asleep. He had to order a new pair." Dylan narrowed his eyes. "We never figured who broke in but "they" kicked in the front door. Rick _claims_ he had taken sleeping pills and hadn't heard a thing. It was a neighbor who called, and they said they went in to check on Rick and it seemed like he was holding his breath."

The blonde chewed his lip, looking back at the board as he put up pictures of the new evidence and crime scene. "Until we know for certain... God I hate saying this, but keep an eye on Rick, and I want that guard at Savannah's to know Rick isn't allowed near her. I already know he doesn't like the woman but I hope he wouldn't... Never mind... I'm going to go see Savannah, but can you go ahead and call up? I think Scarborough's up there now."

"Alright?"

* * *

Savannah groaned as she stared at her reflection in a mirror she had asked a nurse to bring her. It wasn't looking good for her: even after the cosmetic surgery she was waking up from, she still had horrible scars across her face and other areas, and now she had no hair at all because they had been forced to shave her head.

"I look like shit..."

"Nah, you're still hot." the woman dropped the mirror in shock when she heard Alfred's voice. The man chuckled and walked over, digging around in his pocket.

"Glad to see you made it through all that surgery, but I do have a question."

"What?"

"What color wig you want?" he sat beside her. "Because as hard as I'm working to get Davie back, I want you to look your best when I get him back to you."

"Bastard." she punched his shoulder making him laugh. "Have you found anything yet?"

"That's why I'm here." Alfred frowned. "The boy who took Davie from the fire was one of the boys who beat him up the other day, Brad Pierce. But he was found dead about an hour ago, he bled out after being cut open by something."

"And Davie?"

"We found his hoodie, and I'm not gonna lie, there's blood on it, but it's not a lot!" he added quickly when he noticed her heart rate increasing, reaching over to grab her shoulders. "It's a small amount, like he has a broken nose or something!"

"I see..." she forced herself to calm down, folding her hands neatly in her lap. "Anything else?"

"A pair of boots like the ones all us officers are issued were found burning in a barrel. It hadn't made it past the ankle yet, so that fire had been started recently enough."

"Boots?"

"Mmhmm," his gaze darkened. "I think... they might be the ones Rick said went missing."

"You don't think Rick could have-?"

"I hope not." Alfred sighed, then gave her a smile. "Oh! I brought you something!"

Savannah watched him dig through his pocket, gasping when he produced a small, heart shaped box. "That's-!"

"Yours. I grabbed it from your dresser when I passed by to get you out of the bathroom. The way it was set there, I thought it might be important."

"It is." he saw her starting to cry as she shakily opened it, dumping a handful of rings into her palm. "These are all the rings Lucas gave me, and our wedding rings... His class rings from high school and college... And his ring from West Point."

Alfred looked at her sadly for a moment, and she didn't miss the agony that flashed across his features as she began to break down. "Savannah..."

"I-I'm sorry..." she tried to dry her eyes. "You didn't come here to see me cry but -Alfred?"

She broke off when her hands were pushed away, only to be replaced with his larger ones as he carefully wiped away her tears. The woman didn't realize it, but as she instinctively nuzzled into his palm, Alfred calmed, relaxing to the point he didn't even realize he had leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

"Get some rest Savannah. I need to get back to work finding Davie for you." his breath made her shiver as it tickled her scars. His warm hands left her face a moment later, and she watched with a pang of sadness as he got up to leave, telling Scarborough something before disappearing down the hall.

"Alfred..." she looked down at her lap, dumping the rings back into the box. "Don't go..."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Anger

"Why the hell am I being tailed?!" Rick's voice ripped through the silence of the police station as he all but kicked down the doors to enter the bullpen. "Chief Schuette, I demand to know why I suddenly seem to be the point of curiosity for every other bastard with a badge!"

Alfred huffed, rubbing his temples as he lifted his head from his desk. "Dude calm down... I don't care if you think you're being followed man, I haven't slept right for three days."

"I don't give a shit Alfred!" Rick slammed a cup of coffee down in front of his blonde companion. "Drink this and buck up kiddo, 'cause I'm pissed and I ain't shutting up 'til I get an answer!"

The other officers began to whisper to each other as Chief Schuette walked out of his office, looking just as boned tired as the detective. "Officer Mourner you are being followed because your partner got worried about you after our officers recovered a pair of boots similiar to the ones you lost at a murder scene. He told me he thought one of the recently released men you helped put away might be trying to get you tossed behind bars so the others you put away could do you harm, so he asked me to put a tail on you so you would be protected. He didn't want us to tell you about it, because he didn't want your easily paranoid mentality to make you behave differently than normal, in case it alerted someone that you knew you were being set up."

Rick huffed, crossing his arms. "I can't be the only officer who has lost boots."

"But you are the only one who lost their boots after their home was broken into." Alfred yawned, taking the coffee his partner had slammed down to drink. "I checked everyone else out, and they are lost theirs because of non-suspicious reasons. Mostly dogs and children messing them up, though one officer's ex-wife tossed her boots into a wood chipper because she spent more time shining her boots than being a good wife, but you were the only one who actually had some one break in, and then have the boots turn up missing."

"...A wood chipper? In the city? Really?"

The blonde chuckled, glad to see his buddy relax. "I know right?"

Kelly whistled as she walked into the room, carrying a couple of cups of coffee with her. "Yo Alfred! Time to get back to work!"

Rick looked confused as his friend tossed away the empty cup he had slammed down, only to take one of the cups from Kelly. "Yay... Hey Chief! When this case is finally wrapped up, I'm using those vacation days!"

"Catch up on your sleep?"

"Hell yeah!" the blonde laughed, following Kelly over to the white board. "So, have we gotten anything back from the lab?"

"Oh yeah. The blood on Davie's hoodie is both his and Brad's, the item used to cut open Brad seems like it was an average kitchen knife, about the size of the small one used to peel stuff? And we got word back from the ME, Brad's stomach, wrists and ankles were sliced open, that's why he bled out so fast."

Rick peeked over his partner's shoulder as he pointed to the picture of the boots. "And these?"

"Size eleven, same kind issued to every officer in the city." she sighed. "However we ran the issuing system, and there are only about thirteen officers with a size eleven and only three have replaced their boots recently. Counting, of course, our own Rick Mourner."

"You running the others down?"

"Of course, they and Rick will have to give us their boots for inspection as soon as the others get here."

"Hey Rick, you mind if I go ahead and take your boots?"

"Sure thing." Rick snickered, sitting down to unlace the heavy boots. "I'd hold your breath though, these things are _ripe_."

"I'm sure I've smelled worse." Alfred picked up the boots, but couldn't help but notice a deep scar on the rubber of the left toe. "What's this from?"

"Door of my patrol car has a screw stuck in it. Scratch my damn shoe on the thing more times a day than I care to count." Rick shrugged. "Never figured out how to get the thing out."

"Ah, well I'm going to go give these to Raven to examine."

"No need, I came to you!" a soft, but strong voice reached them from the elevator, a mere moment before a small, brunette, green-eyed woman walked over, her hands stuffed into the pockets of a lab coat. Raven Moore was a spitfire standing at only five foot even, and she had no trouble at all with putting anyone, even the Chief in their place. She stopped to pushed her glasses back up her nose before giving Rick a glanced through narrowed eyes. "Hand 'em over Alfred, I got work to do. Bring the others down when they get here."

"Wait, you're not going to stay to get them?"

"No, I just came up here to see what was taking so damn long." She huffed. "Turn your phone back on."

"Oh right I probably should, eh." Alfred chuckled nervously, walking back to his desk to turn the phone by his PC back on. "Whoopsies."

"Bastard." Raven flicked him off before quickly making her escape. "I'll call in the results!"

* * *

It was dark, nothing could be seen anywhere around the boy. He sat, duct taped to a chair, listening to the annoying sound of a dripping faucet. _Drip_ , he counted the seconds. _Drip_! Only three seconds between. It was a sound that made him a little hopeful. If the water was dripping with a fast interval, it meant there was a steady stream of water, and if there was a steady stream of water, he had to be in a house, or apartment kitchen. He knew it was a kitchen because the water was giving a metallic echo every time it hit, and he knew it wasn't a bathroom because he couldn't hear the echo from shifting the chair. Maybe he was on a carpet? He had to be.

"Hey there Davie," the now familiar voice of his kidnapper's murderer reached his ears. He licked at the rubber gag in his mouth, willing it to slip loose, even a little. "Oh ho, looks like that gag's starting to leave a mark on that pretty little face of yours."

Large, rough hands brushed harshly across his face as the gag was unhooked. Davie took a deep breath, wincing at the pain across his cheek when he opened his mouth, as well as the pain of his over-filled lungs.

"What happened to Brad?"

"Oh well, I never could pay him, see. So I had to kill him to keep him quiet." Davie fought his urge to flinch when he felt the cold metal of what he assumed was a blade press against his wrist. "Of course, it was me who set him up to kidnap you. Gave him the bottle and the chloroform, told him exactly what to do. It was easy too, that kid hated your guts."

"I never did anything to him!" Davie strained against the rope binding his wrists. "I didn't even know anything about him!"

"He didn't care. All he knew, was that his dear friend Levi has a crush on you. He was hoping that by making Levi fight you so many times he start to hate you, but he always tried to take it easy on you, didn't he?" the man's voice was close to Davie now, he had to be kneeling. "Ah, but I can see why he had a crush on you: such smooth skin, soft hair... Pretty eyes!"

Just like that, the blindfold was ripped from Davie's face, and he got his first look at his tormentor. It made him gasp, when he realized he knew the man. "You!"

"Oh yes. I couldn't help myself when I saw you that day with Officer Dylan Russel," the name was spat mockingly. "But to find out you were the son of that bitch Savannah Chase! I knew it would make you a special one."

"Hey my mom's not a bitch!" Davie glared through the dim light, but when his captor stood to walk around to his back, he was quick to look around the room. He was on the ground floor of a run down apartment, the window staring out into an empty alleyway where an overflowing trash bin stood, covered in vomit, blood and dirt. "Wait until Alfred figures out! You'll be sorry!"

"Alfred? Ha, that pathetic excuse for a man is running in circles, trying to put all the wrong pieces of the puzzle together. He'll never figure anything out. And by the time he does, it'll be far too late for you."


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Not so Stupid, You Bastard

"Alfred, the tail we put on Rick lost track of him for thirty minutes after he left." Kelly closed her phone. "But get this, when they caught sight of him again, he was leaving an old apartment building near the docks. One of the guys went and looked around inside and well..."

"What?" Alfred looked up from his email.

"They found, well... they found a pair of hand cuffs, a ball gag, and a knife, covered with dry blood. They also found some clothes matching what Davie was last seen in, as well as blood, hair, and... condoms." she looked grossed out. "It's all been taken to the lab."

Alfred cringed. "I sincerely hoped Rick wasn't involved but... bring him in, just in case."

"On it."

Chief Schuette patted Alfred's shoulder as he walked up, looking over at the board. "Alfred, I got some bad news for you."

"Oh god." the blonde looked up at him. "Yes?"

"Chase broke out of the hospital after Baker told her Rick might be involved. She's on her way up here, and she's not happy."

"Damn right I'm not!" Fellow officers jumped and dove out of Savannah's way as she stumbled over to the detectives and Chief, ruggedly dressed in some clothes Granny M had taken her a few days prior. The scars across her head and face only made her look even scarier. "Jones! Where's Rick?!"

"In cuffs." Kelly piped up. "I just finished talking to the DA, they're getting a search warrant for us immediately."

"That fast?"

"This was listed as a top-priority case, remember? You did that the second you told Chief Schuette to put everyone we could spare on the case."

Savannah looked over at the men, then shoved past Alfred to look at the white board as Kelly wrote down information about the most recent development. "How the hell did all this random stuff lead to Rick? I don't see any kind of pointer here, and he has no motive."

"He hates your guts Savannah." Alfred put a hand on her shoulder. "You were first in line to get hired here, and he only got the job because you said no. He fought hard to get what you got, and you just walked away. Plus, and I hate to saw this aloud, but Rick has always been a bit... weird."

"Weird how?" even Chief Schuette was waiting for an answer.

"Like... Well weird like he, uh, erm," he cleared his throat. "Weird like he seems to be a bit... _interested_ in younger guys... I mean I don't judge, by any means but I don't mean younger like a few years I mean younger like... _euck_ younger."

Kelly gagged, tossing her phone right into the hands of Alfred. "Lab report's back. Chief, I recommend putting Savannah in hand cuffs and in your office."

Alfred felt the need to throw up as he looked at the lab report that had been emailed to Kelly, and when he put his hand over his mouth to hold it back, Chief Schuette went ahead and put Savannah in cuffs, much to her annoyance. "It's a positive match to both?"

"Yes." Kelly pulled out a bottle of Tums, popping a couple in her mouth before handing some to her temporary partner. "Here."

"Thanks." he crunched down on the tablets, then lifted his head to watch Rick be escorted into the precinct. He was cussing and shouting about being rough-housed by his own buddies, but Baker and Scarborough weren't having it. They led him to an interrogation room, and tossed him in. "Kelly, sit this out. Keep Savannah out of the viewing room."

"Not gonna happen." Savannah hissed. "You know damn well I can slip these cuffs and get in there. Why not make it easier on poor Chief Schuette?"

"...Fine. I want my vacation too much. But you'll stay in cuffs, and the Chief and Kelly will stay with you. Yo! Scarborough, Baker, Arthur! The three of you need to stand outside the interrogation door and make sure Savannah doesn't fight her way in!"

"Okay!" the three men did as they were told as the Chief and two woman went into the viewing room. Alfred sighed, quickly tossing together a file before walking into the room where his "partner" was waiting. The man hopped up from his chair, looking relieved when it was Alfred that walked in.

"Alfred! Thank God, look man, I don't know what they hell is going on here but-"

"Sit down Mr. Mourner." Alfred took a seat, and motioned to the chair Rick had just abandoned. "I have a few questions for you."

"Alfred, what the hell?" Rick slowly sat down, as if some new weight had settled upon him. "You don't actually think I woulda kidnapped-"

"You raped him, Mr. Mourner. We found the condom with his blood on it, and your semen inside. His saliva was all over the ball gag that had your finger prints on it. Oh, and the knife that had both Davie Chase and Brad Pierce's blood on the blade? Yeah, your prints on the handle. Same for the hand cuffs. And Davie's blood and DNA are all over the clothes that also had your semen on them." Alfred was fighting to not jump across the table and wrap his hands around the other man's throat. "What did you do Mr. Mourner? Get Brad Pierce to get Davie out, then kill him? You must have bribed him some how, am I right?"

"Damn it Alfred, you said it yourself you thought I might be getting set up!" Rick was grasping at straws.

"No, Chief Schuette made that statement in order to keep you in the dark. That tail I put on you was because I found it kind of suspicious how the boots matched up with your file."

"Two other cops had their boots get messed up recently!"

"Yes, the three cops were you, Mr. Baker, and myself." Alfred sighed. "My boots were messed up because they got contaminated when I was forced to step in as a paramedic on an emergency call, Baker's boots were screwed up when he took a dive in the river after a little girl, and had to kick them off to keep from sinking. It was actually that scratch in your left boot that gave us a clue to you being the owner of the boots. The boots that were on fire had the same scratch, but this one went all the way through to the inside, and your blood was found in the sole and threads of the boot."

"Alfred!"

"Where is he Mr. Mourner? We already have a search warrant obtained, and we have a party ready to go look. Tell us now, and I'll try to get you a deal with the DA to have you in solitary confinement."

Rick set his jaw. "...I know my rights... Give me an attorney, I'm not saying anything else."

"You know Rick, I honestly tried to give you the benefit of the doubt." Alfred stood. "But innocent men don't ask for attorneys."

Rick huffed, watching his old buddy leave before Baker and Scarborough came in to lead him away. Alfred couldn't look Savannah in the eye when she met him in the hall, but she left the Chief and Kelly stunned when she too easily slipped her cuffs and threw her arms around the blonde. The man stumbled in shock, expecting her to strangle him, not hug him.

"Savannah?!"

"Go find my son, Alfred." she pulled back, tears in her eyes. "I want him home."

"I'm on it. Kelly, stay here with Savannah. Chief, you feel like giving me a ride?"

"Sure thing kid."

"Hey Alfred," Savannah called softly. "Call me when you find him. I'm gonna make some ribs for dinner, and you're gonna stay with us."

"Uh, where will this be?" he was confused, remembering her apartment was in ruins.

She held up a familiar key chain. "Your place."

Alfred chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course. I'd love to stay for dinner."

"You better bring him home then."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Is He Here?

Alfred steeled his nerves as he walked up to the front door of Rick's townhouse, Chief Schuette and the other men right on his tail. He took a moment to look back at them before retrieving the spare key from behind a fake doorbell. As soon as the door swung open though, his gentle approach was gone. The Chief stood aside as Alfred barked out orders to the other officers, telling them which rooms were where and a vague description of what they hoped to find, if not Davie himself. Once everyone was spreading out, Alfred and the greying man made their way down the hall to the bedroom.

"Alfred, you just told Arthur to search back here."

"We're not searching the room Chief." the blonde retrieved a key from atop the single dresser in the room as the redhead entered behind them. "We're searching the cellar that the city doesn't know he has."

Chief Schuette gave a curious arch of his brow as he followed Alfred back to the living room, only to scare the shit out of several officers when he kicked the couch aside, revealing a locked trap door. Alfred kneeled to unlock it, and the second the door was opened up he stuck his head down into the hole, thankful when someone handed him a flashlight. He pulled up a few boxes of porn, both adult and child, as well as sex toys and condoms similiar to those found at the abandoned apartment, before he jumped straight back up.

"Get me a medic!"

"Get me a medic!"

The familiar voice made Davie's head lurch up, meeting with the metal gate of the dog crate he had been shoved in. He was thankful when he looked up and saw Alfred, hurrying to move the rest of the shit keeping the gate shut aside so he could open it up. He didn't even flinch when Alfred reached in to get the gag out of his mouth, another detective snapping pictures the entire time as the half-naked teen was carefully lifted out of the crate. Chief Schuette was quick to wrap him in a towel, and as soon as handcuffs were removed from his wrists and ankles, Alfred was sure to wrap him in it properly before lifting him back up to carry him out to the medics that were arriving on scene. Davie didn't even care how bad it looked, he relaxed into Alfred's chest, resting his head against the man's shoulder until he was laid ontop of a stretcher. But Alfred didn't leave, he moved one of the paramedics aside and did the job of checking him over for them, never saying a word except to have the other paramedic write notes down. Chief Schuette was getting on the phone with Savannah as the doors closed, and only then did the detective turned paramedic look back at Davie.

"You had us worried you little brat." he gently tussled his hair. "That, and you nearly sent two or three people to jail for murder."

"Did you catch him?" Davie's voice was weak, and speaking made him cringe. "And mom, where is she? What happened to her?"

"I was on my way up to get that list from you when a fire stalled the elevator. I got out and got into your apartment to get you and your mom out but you were gone and she was trapped in the bathroom. A huge metal beam fell straight ontop of her as she was getting out of the shower."

"So mom is-?!" he tried to sit up, but well back with a gasp of pain.

"Yeah..." Alfred nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately... she is fine."

"Wait what? Dude you had me thinking she was dead!"

"Naw, then you would've only had two people ready to go to jail." Alfred smirked. "She's got some pretty nasty burns, and she's completely bald right now, but she's still very much alive. Hell, when she heard Rick might be involved, she broke out of the hospital and came up to the station ready to beat him within an inch of his life."

"Of course she did." he chuckled. "Then who're the other two people?"

"Me 'n Chief. The man still doesn't know how I kept myself from leaping over the interrogation room table and wrapping my hands around that bastard's throat." the blonde spat. "But I was too tired to get a grip properly so, once you're in the clear I'm taking a vacation."

Selena looked up from where she sat at the front of the cabin. "Good luck getting Chief Cyr to agree."

"Already called him, and Chief Cash too. I'm in the clear for a month straight."

"Lucky."

Davie grimaced. "Oh shit I just remembered... how's Levi?"

"Levi Stone? He's fine. Worried as hell about you." the man grinned. "He was the first person that turned up to help us. That's why we locked on to Brad Pierce so fast but... we'd been too little too late."

"He would have died anyway..." Davie sighed, relaxing into the uncomfortable stretcher. "Rick was going to make sure there were no loose ends..."

"Why did he move you Davie? From the apartment, I mean."

"The tail you put on him had him worried." the boy looked over at the detective once more. "And I was too smart. When he came in the day he moved me, he caught me trying to break the window of the apartment with the chair I was still tied to. So he said he'd have to move me somewhere I couldn't escape and knocked me out. Next thing I know, I've been stuffed into a metal cage and I can't see an inch in front of me. But I don't think I was in there too long, before you found me."

"I'm sorry I took so long."

"How'd you figure it out?"

"A pair of boots." Alfred chuckled. "Then we found all the stuff he left at that apartment... I had to put your mom in cuffs and station guards outside the interrogation rooms doors just to question that prick!"

"Hey... Alfred?"

"Mm?"

Davie gave a tired smile. "Mind if me and mom stay with you for a while?"

"She already stole my keys... Also, how good are your mom's ribs?"

"She's making ribs?"

"Yeah."

Davie snickered. "I hope your smoke alarm works..."

"Shit."


	13. Quick Author's Note

The next four chapter's purely focus on Alfred's vacation, and a silly developement of a relationship between him and Savannah. You are free to skip them, or you can read them. It's up to you. Alfred will be returning to work after the Week Four chapter.


	14. Chapter 12: Week 1

Chapter 12: Vacation: Week 1

 _"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this?"_

"I'll be fine. And they will be too."

 _"Are you sure kid? I can always forward Chase's check."_

"It'll be okay."

 _"If you say so."_

"Didn't know you cared so much Chief! Uh... chief? He hung up on me!" Alfred whined, putting his phone down to look at Savannah as she adjusted a short blonde wig on her head. "He calls to check on us, and he hangs up on me!"

"It's his way of showing he cares." she turned to him. "How's this one?"

"Still think the red one suits you more."

Savannah cringed, picking up a longer auburn wig. "This one? Really?"

"It fits your personality more. You're a bit too hard headed, stubborn and scary to be a blonde." Alfred smirked, perking up when Davie walked into the apartment. "Hey Davie, help me out?"

"Go with the red mom." Davie snickered when she muttered. "Looks better."

"Ugh... so what did the school say?" Savannah pouted, but pulled off the blonde wig to replace it with the red, cringing when she realized it really did look better. "Are they going to try and make you come back sooner?"

"No, they are freezing my grades, gathering all my missed work, and the secretary will be bringing me my daily work until I return to school at the end of the month. Then again," the teen sent a smirk Alfred's way. "Having Alfred provide pictures of my and your injuries to show them exactly why I'm not coming in didn't hurt."

The blonde returned the smirk. "So how's Levi?"

"Transferring to my new school as we speak." Davie scoffed. "He's worried as hell... keeps sending flowers and shit..."

"And a giant "get better soon" teddy bear?" now his mother was smirking, pointing at the four foot high teddy bear sitting in a corner of Alfred's apartment as she moved away from a mirror Alfred had recently put up over a side table in the living area. "I think Alfred will end up throwing us out if Levi keeps showering you in get well gifts."

"Nah," Alfred grinned, making a few cups of coffee. "As long as it stays in the shrine corner I'm fine."

"Shrine corner?" Davie grimaced. "Is it that bad?"

"Oh yeah." "Definitely."

The teen grumbled, plopping down on the couch but jumping right back up when he hit a bruise against the arm. The two adults exchanged a solemn glance, then chuckled. Feeling his face heat up, the teen lifted a small pillow to hurl at the man, pouting when he simply caught it and tossed it back.

"There's a reason I'm the quarterback for the which ever team I show up with at the First Responder Picnic."

Savannah smirked. "Yeah, you're the only one that can throw straight."

"And catch the damn ball, sheesh." Alfred rolled his eyes. "The guys at the fire department can catch a falling cat like it's nothing, the others at the EMS can catch a needle or a baby or a damn cup of piss, and the other officers can catch a knife tossed at their heads, but not a single person I work with can catch a damn football!"

Davie's head popped up. "Who's throwing cups of piss?"

"Every old person we've put in the back of a truck so far." the man shuddered, remembering a particularly nasty old lady he and a colleague had once been forced to wrestle down the flight of stairs then into the ambulance. She had actually thrown blood _and_ urine on them, not mention throwing up all over the back floor. "Kid, don't ever become a paramedic. Seriously."

"Noted."

Savannah smirked, reaching over to poke the man's shoulder as he carried two cups of coffee over to the couch to sit by the teen. "Is that why you don't like to switch straight from a paramedic shift to anything else?"

"Yeah." Davie sat up to take his cup before his mother joined the men on the couch. "Hey, we already know you don't like getting off a late shift at the diner to come to the station."

"No I do not."

"Hey mom," Davie sent a smirk her way. "When are you 'n Alfred gonna start dating?"

Alfred choked on his coffee as the woman sent her son a bewildered look, feeling her face go bright red. "What? What kind of question is that?! What makes you think the two of us would date?!"

"'Cause you obviously like him and I've seen the way he's always staring at you, hoping up to do stuff 'cause he thinks it'll make you happy or help you out, stuff like that." he teased. "Plus, you stopped wearing dad's ring, and you always said the only way you'd stop wearing that ring was if you fell for someone else."

Alfred stood abruptly, leaving his glass on the coffee table. "Well, you two obviously have something to talk about so I'm gonna go shower."

Savannah watched the man all but run from the room to the bedroom, and it only made Davie arch a brow.

"See? He got nervous."

"Obviously! With you saying stuff like that I wanted to run away too you little brat!"

"Ask him out."

"Why?"

"Because I need a dad, and you need a new man in your life."

"I do nOT!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet. "Since when have I ever needed a man in my life?"

"Since you stopped being able to cook a plate of ribs without the super coming up to our floor with a fire extinguisher." Davie gave a twisted grin. "And if you don't ask him out, I'll just have to resort to locking you two in the closet until you do."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I, mother dearest? Wouldn't I?"


	15. Chapter 13: Week 2

Chapter 13: Week 2: Dammit Hurry Up

"Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mother. Mother. Mother. Mother. Mother. Mother. Mother. Mutti. Mutti. Mutti. Mutti. Mut-"

"What the hell do you want?!" Savannah slammed down her coffee cup. Her first cup of the day. "What the hell is so damn important that you can't wait until-"

"Have you asked him out yet?"

"No I haven't asked him out and I don't plan on doing shit until I finish this cup of coffee so shut up." The woman glared at her son, lifting the cup to her lips.

"Hey mom?"

"...what?"

"You know that's the glass Alfred just finished using right?"

"...?"

"Indirect kiss." Davie grinned when she put the cup back down and eyed the rim. "Did you even wash it first, or did you just assume that since it was by the coffee machine it was clean? Seriously, do you have any idea how many cups of coffee that man drinks back-to-back first thing in the morning?"

Speaking of 'that man', Alfred rubbed his eyes as he stumbled back out of the bedroom, still only wearing his baggy black sweat pants and still missing his shirt and glasses. The blonde slowly staggered over to the coffee machine, but turned to look through narrow eyes at Savannah when he saw the cup in front of her. Much to Davie's amusement, the man tripped over to the woman, momentarily trapping her against the edge of the counter as he took the cup of coffee, keeping her pinned as he chugged the remainder of what she had left. The woman blushed furiously when he put the glass down, and came up with a hint of red on his lips from her colored chapstick. It only served to make Davie laugh, watching Alfred stumble away to fall face first onto the couch, and leaving Savannah to clean the cup so she could re-fill it without guilt.

"Uh, Alfred, you uh... you kinda have my chapstick on your lips... It's kinda red..." the woman whined, staring at the coffee maker and willing it to make the coffee faster. "Might wanna wipe it off."

"Too tired~!" the man hugged one of the pillows on the couch. "Make me some more coffee."

"Get up and make it-"

"Pwease?" you could tell he was pouting. "Coffee~!"

"Ugh." she sighed, but turned around to make him a cup as soon as hers was done. It made Davie chuckle, getting up to walk over to sit beside the collapsed Alfred.

"Wow, you two sure are alot alike. Maybe getting you two together would be a good thing!" Alfred peeked up to glare at the boy, but even hidden in the pillow you could tell his face was red. "Whaddya say Alfred? You wanna date my mom? I'm sure she wants to date you~!"

"Shut up Davie!" Savannah snapped, glaring at her son though her face was redder than her chapstick. "Tell you what, if you call Levi and ask him out, I'll ask Alfred out."

"Cross your heart?"

"Consider it crossed," Savannah rolled her eyes, drinking from her cup as she carried the other to Alfred. The blonde sat up to take it, but both turned to look at Davie in surprise when he suddenly started talking again.

On the phone.

"Hey Levi, it's Davie. Yeah, I'm doing fine. Still a little bruised up but I should be fine to come back to school at the end of the month. Haha, well you'd have to break into the jail to do that! yeah, mom's doing fine too. What about your nose? Oh, haha, good to know." Davie sent his mother and her gaping co-worker a smirk. "Hey, Levi, I really appreciate how you walked away from those jerks to help out when I was missing. Oh, yeah, the gifts are nice too. Listen, maybe, you know, if you want, we could... maybe... well, go out sometime?"

The two adults exchanged an unbelieving glance when the boy paused, but both had to hide behind their coffee cups when he grinned.

"That would be great if I had something nice to wear, but I haven't had time to rebuild my closet after the fire, and space is kinda limited where I'm staying. Yeah, Detective Jones was kind enough to let us stay with him, though I think it's partially because he has a crush on my mom. Haha, yeah. Okay, okay then. Yeah, I'll see you next Friday. Mmhmm. Bye bye." Davie hung up, blushing a bit, but his color evened out when he sent the adults a smirk. "Go ahead mom. I'm waiting."

Savannah slammed her now empty cup of coffee down. "I'm gonna go shower!"

"Oi! You crossed your heart lady!" Davie yelled after her as she fled from the room. "Yeesh, she could care less about sharing a bed with you for a month, but the second she has to live up to a promise she gets nervous and runs?"

"You sure know how to make things awkward." Alfred sipped his coffee, pulling his legs up to sit criss cross on the couch. "Besides, she only sleeps with me because the couch is too small, and the bed in the guest room is a crappy futon that's barely big enough for you."

"It's fine." he rolled his eyes. "She's just too hard headed to admit that you act so much like dad used to it made her fall back to the way she was when he was around."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, like when you starting mixing German and English the other day when Officer Arthur called? Dad would do that when he was annoyed, or when he wanted to annoy mom. And all the coffee you drink? Dad drank like, four cups every morning. Plus, I came in the room to ask mom about something the other day when you two were sleeping in, and you wrap your arms around her waist and shoulders and hold her close to you, and that's the way dad would sleep with her, because she gets cold really easily." Davie watched Alfred's eyes go to the woman's empty cup. "I think if she and you hooked up, it might help her out some. She never really recovered after dad died, but this past week or so with you, I've seen her turn around to the way things used to be. That's why I push the issue about you two getting together so much."

"I see." the blonde put his cup down. "Well, I better go get dressed before she gets out of the shower."

The brunette watched the man get up, rubbing his neck as he walked into his room. Alfred shut his door, and had just turned to his dresser when his gaze landed on the suitcase Savannah was living out of until she got paid and could go put down a payment on a new apartment. It made him cringe, but a moment later, he found himself taking the bag over to his closet and hanging up all of her clothes that he could.

So imagine Savannah surprise, when she walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in one of Alfred's too-big towels, and saw him carefully putting her shirts away amongst his. He shot her a sad smile, turning on his heel to walk over to her.

"Alfred?"

"Savannah, Davie explained to me why he wanted us to go out so badly."

"He did?" she looked confused, but felt her face go ablaze when he stepped right up to her. His face was barely a few inches away from hers, and she couldn't help but freeze to the spot.

"Is it true that I act like Lucas?" he watched her tense up, lifting one of his hands to cup her cheek. "Is that why you're so much more comfortable here than you thought you would be?"

"Alfred..." she sighed and leaned into his palm. "Yes... You do act a bit more like Lucas than I would care to admit to myself."

"Is that why you're hesitant about trying to be in a relationship with me?"

"It... might be..." she looked away, but felt her heart twist when his fingers slid under her chin, lifting her face back to him.

"I'm not quite so hesitant about it, though Davie bringing it up the way he does is pretty embarrassing, even for me." his lips brushed across hers. "Whaddya say, think you could give me a shot?"

"Al-" she broke off when he kissed her, but looked up at him in confusion when he pulled away. He smirked at her, returning to the closet to grab some clothes.

"Get dressed Savannah. You don't want that towel slipping do you?"

"Alfred Jones!"


	16. Chapter 14: Week 3

Chapter 14: Week 3: Are You Kidding?

Davie looked through narrow eyes at Alfred as he leaned against Savannah's shoulder, watching her attempt to cook stir-fry. The man's hand was on her's helping her move the meat around to make sure it was cooking right. Soon, he turned to look at the teen, smirking when a knock sounded at the door.

"Hey Davie, I think your date's here."

Savannah chuckled as her son got up to answer the door, but both adults had to pause and look when Davie let Levi in, only to disappear to the other bedroom with a bag in his hands. Levi, all dressed up in a nice pair of jeans and a polo shirt, walked over to shake hands with the two, eyeing the stir-fry with a smile.

"I'll take good care of him, promise."

"Good," the woman sneered maliciously. "Because if you don't, even this detective won't be able to find your corpse."

Alfred gave her a look. "I think I'd be too scared of you adding me to the list to investigate."

"Good boy." Savannah smirked, but her look softened when her son re-appeared, looking nice in a pair of dark jeans and an awesome punk style shirt. He even had in new piercings, which he fiddled with slightly as he approached his suddenly preppy looking date.

"You look great Davie." Levi held out a hand. "Ready?"

Davie couldn't help but blush a little when he slipped his hand into his date's. "Yeah. Bye mom, bye Alfred."

"Have fun."

"Be safe~!" Savannah hissed, watching the two leave. The second they were out the door, though, Alfred's hands moved to her waist, pulling her back to the stove.

"Focus Savannah, don't burn dinner again."

"That was one time!" she twisted around to smack his shoulder. "And I'll remind you it was your fault it burned! Putting on such a good movie while I'm trying to cook, it's like you were trying to set me up for disaster!"

"Hey, I still ate it didn't I? It was Davie who pitched a fit and made ramen." he smiled, poking her nose. "At least I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"After what you told me about your older brother, I think you'd eat anything I put in front of you, Mr. Iron Gut." Savannah scowled. "That Kirkland fellow sounds a bit crazy."

"Ah, he means well." Alfred chuckled, finally stepping away to make a drink. "So how long do you give Levi and Davie?"

"It'll work out. If it doesn't-"

"Levi's dead?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that." she smirked. "Depends on how and why it ends."

"Makes sense, but please don't make me have to lock you up. I think Davie would rather have you to take care of him than me."

"He called you 'dad' last night." Savannah listened to Alfred's glass hit the counter, sure he was staring at her. "He didn't even realize he had done it until I pointed it out... So I think he would be fine with you taking care of him, if he already thinks that highly of you."

"He called me dad? He actually called me dad?"

"Yes." she glanced at him, and smiled when she saw that signature smile of his return. "Don't tell him I told you though."

"No promises!"


	17. Chapter 15: Week 4

Chapter 15: Week 4: No, I Don't Wanna Go!

Alfred groaned as he rolled over in bed, pulling his pillow over his head. He felt one of Savannah's cool hands suddenly reach out to him, pressing to his back for a moment.

"Alfred?"

"I don't wanna go back to work tomorrow~" he groaned, lifting his head and dropping the pillow back to the bed. "I still feel so tired."

"That's because you're back on a normal sleep schedule," the woman brushed his hair out of his face, but paused when she saw that stubborn cowlick standing amongst his bangs. "I don't how you reverted so fast, but damn am I jealous."

"I guess I was just so exhausted my body reverted just to catch me up." he chuckled, then sighed and sat up. "Are you gonna be okay? I mean I start work again tomorrow, and Davie's going back to school a few days after..."

"I'll be fine." she smiled softly. "So, where will you be at?"

"Cyr wants me back at the EMS station to replace Selena so she can have a week off for her son's wedding."

"So you'll be playing paramedic for the week?"

"Ain't no 'playing' about it." he grinned, grabbing her waist and making her squeak in shock when she suddenly found herself pressed against him while sitting in his lap. "I need that paycheck too much."

But Savannah wasn't listening, she was too awestruck by the feeling of Alfred's muscles against her suddenly small frame. "I never realized how much bigger you are than me until now."

"Oh, so always having to look up at me didnt clue you in?" he smirked, letting her go so he could get up and go get some coffee. "There's not that much of a difference, you're just incredibly petite."

"Meh." she huffed, following him closely as he left for the kitchen. Davie was already up, sitting in the lap of that four foot teddy bear as he watched TV. He shot the adults a warning glance when their snickering reached him, prompting them to head for the coffee maker instead of joking on him. The two stood for a moment locked in a heated staring contest before Alfred backed off for Savannah to make herself a cup of coffee. The sight made Davie a little worried, but a grin grew on his face when Alfred moved behind his mom, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Have you finally admitted defeat?"

"No, I just think she wants the coffee a bit more." Alfred glanced over his shoulder at the boy, and flashed his signature grin. "Besides, I can just hog the coffee at work tomorrow."

"Of course." Savannah slipped out of his grasp, carrying her cup over to the fridge. "So leave me to mine."

"Only because I like you."

"You know this is going to cause one hell of an uproar when we get back to work right?"

"Yup." Alfred grinned. "I look forward to it!"


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Work, Work, Work!

Alfred grumbled as he stumbled into the EMS office, heading straight for the coffee pot. His coworkers laughed, sidestepping him so he could make it over without trouble. His EMT partner, Jan, walked over and gave him a smirk.

"Not fun to be off for a month then come back eh?"

"No." his tone was curt, annoyed, and exactly what they were expecting. Alfred poured himself a cup and drank it black, hissing when it burned his tongue, but still going back for another cup, just in time for Chief Cyr to walk in. The former Naval officer gave his worker a smirk. Cyr smacked Alfred on the back, the blond nearly dropping his cup.

"Welcome back to world of the working Jones."

"Chief." he murmured. "If I didn't like Selena so much I probably would have turned her down to start at the fire department today."

"Why go to Cash before me, huh?"

"There is always a chance of having a quiet day at the fire department, but there is about a 2% chance of a quiet day here." he frowned at his boss. "I've been out of work for a month trying to get right, and now I'm back in with little to no chance of a good recovery."

Speaking of, the word recovery had barely left his month before the radio went off. Alfred groaned when Cyr took the cup from his hands, setting it on the counter before motioning for him and Jan to head off. Jan laughed, tugging the man along beside her to the ambulance. She shoved him in front of the vehicle before climbing in the passenger side, and he had no choice but to get behind the wheel, though he did shook her a glare before he started up to head out. It wasn't too long before they were pulling up to an apartment complex, and Alfred couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief when they came up on a person passed out in the parking lot.

Putting on a serious face the man parked and jumped out to run over, and knelt beside the unconcious man to check his pulse. "What happened?"

"I don't know, no one saw anything." an elderly lady stood beside him. "I just happened to look outside and see him on the ground so I called you."

"Was he still cohenrent when you came out to him?"

"No, he was kind of balled up and clutching his chest. I thought he was having a heart attack but he wasn't showing any other signs." she smiled proudly. "I was the head RN at Memorial until about a year ago."

"I'm sorry to hear we lost such a valuable person... His pulse and breathing seem steady... Hey Jan get the stretcher and call ahead to let the ER know we have an unresponsive."

"On it."

* * *

Alfred hissed as he drove the ambulance out of the docking bay, hitting the sirens to make the idiotic New York drivers get the hell out of his way. They had barely been able to hand over the fallout they had picked up to ER doctors before Cyr called and said they were needed to transfer a critical patient from one hospital to another. As Alfred and Jan roared up to the smaller building and hopped out, running inside with the stretcher so fast nurses barely had time to get out the way. Alfred felt the overwhelming need to throw up the second he laid eyes on the patient, having to step back to recompose himself before he could step back up and help get the man of the bed.

"What the hell happened to him?!"

"Railroad worker, was trying to get across a track to fix something and got stuck. When he fell he dropped his radio and couldn't reach it to call anyone." a doctor helped push the critical patient out to the ambulance. "They was no warning to stop the train... both legs were cut clean off."

"God I'm glad I didn't eat yet." the blond cringed. One of his fellow firefighters ran up from a truck to hop up front, and Alfred was able to hop in back with Jan to take care of their patient.

"Dave get us to Memorial as fast as you fucking can!"

"Yup!"

line

"Alfred are you done?" Jan rubbed her partners back as he threw up into the trashcan the husband of his next patient had handed him. The blond coughed, trying hard to regain his composure but failing miserably.

"I think so..." he shook his head. "Ugh... I'll go rinse this out while you get Mr. Robert into the ambulance..."

Mr. Robert chuckled nervously, rubbing his neck as his husband helped him up. "I guess maggots don't agree with him?"

"We just delt with a man who had both legs cut off by a train so it's not entirely your fault." Jan cringed, eyeing the maggot infested foot of the man. "It's his first day back after a month. He got used to the easy life again."

"I heard that!"

Mr. Robert's husband looked worried as the blond returned with the cleaned trashcan. "Why was he off so long?"

"I'm also a detective, and a fireman, as well as being a paramedic. I haven't had a day off in years, so they were piling up. After a particularly nasty case, all three bosses got together and gave me a month off to fix my sleep schedule." he looked at the foot again and felt his stomach churn. "Ugh... let's hurry up here or I'll be the next patient."

"Haha yeah."

* * *

"Why is it that the day I come back is the day things go from one extreme to another?!" Alfred hissed at Jan as he attempted to revive a lady that had stopped breathing behind the wheel of her car. She shouted something at him at as she pulled another lady out of the car that had been hit when the first one stopped breathing. He leaned down to breath for her as another ambulance arrived on scene, and let the police who had been helping him leave to go fill them in. One of the new arrivals rushed over to make the switch with Alfred, and allowed their hands to replace his, but stayed to keep breathing for her.

"Do you have an AED on board?"

"No."

"Damn."


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Is it too Early to Retire?

Alfred let his face fall, his forehead hitting the top of his steering wheel, as he listened to the 911 dispatcher talking to them over the radio. Some guy had just called, saying he had to get his grandfather to the hospital for his check-up but the old man wasn't cooperating and he couldn't get him out of bed. Jan frowned, letting the dispatcher know they were on their way as soon as he finished relaying the message.

"How soon can I retire from this job?"

"End of the week. You still have to wait for Selena to get back."

"Ugh... I hate these kind of calls." he groaned as he pulled out of their parking spot outside a gas station. "These kind of old people always end up being trouble for us."

"Yeah, but it's a job we gotta do."

"You're getting in the back with him. I refuse to have piss thrown on me again."

"You don't know-"

"Hundred bucks says he does."

"Deal." Jan smirked, sure that she was about to make some easy money. She, however, was still green compared to Alfred, had didn't have nearly the same experience with uncooperative old people that he had. That lack of experience was about to come back and bite her in the ass one way or another. As they pulled up to the apartment they were met immediately by a worried man, his clothes disheveled as though he had been in a fight.

"Oh thank god you're here."

"Is there any particular reason your grandfather wouldn't want to go to the hospital for his appointment?"

"He's a stubborn old man that fought in all three wars from World War II to Vietnam. If he doesn't want to do something, he doesn't do it."

"What branch and rank?"

"Army, Sergeant."

"Last name?"

"Herndon."

"I got this." Alfred pushed his hair back out of his face. "Which apartment?"

"Follow me." the man led the two paramedics up to, and into an apartment. Once they were there, they were a bit surprised by the mess in the front room, and exchanged looks as they follow the man's son to where he was. As soon as the Vet laid eyes on them he screwed up his face.

"I ain't going!"

"Sergeant Herndon get your ass out of that bed!" Alfred's voice and demeanor had changed completely, and it took the old timer by surprise. "You didn't fight through three of the worst wars in history to lay down and die in a bed in some shabby apartment, and there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you!"

"Now you listen here sonny, unless you're a vet yourself you don't understand-"

"Desert Storm. Lost two buddies and a few others I was still getting to know. I was still just a kid back then, no idea what I was getting into, and it came back and screwed me up bad." Alfred shook his head. "I was in the hospital for two months after I got back, but I didn't let it stop me. Ain't no way in hell I'm gonna let you stop here either."

"I see... You still got life in your eyes, even after watching your friends die."

"'Course I do. They'd come back from the dead and kick my ass if I sat around moping about it." he held out his hand to the old man. "So are you gonna risk some army style paranormal activity coming back to bite you in the ass, or are you gonna let me and my partner take you to the hospital?"

"The second one." Sergeant Herndon sighed, and eased his way out of his bed. With the help of Alfred and his son the old man was soon down in the ambulance, and Jan was checking his information as her partner pulled out of the parking lot. She looked up at the front where the blonde sat, and couldn't help but frown.

"I never knew you were in the army."

"Long enough to make Captain." he carefully pulled his dogtags out of his shirt and tossed them back to the woman. She examined them before handing them to the curious veteran, but didn't notice him doing something as she went back to work.

"So kid, what made you leave the service?"

"My older brother has lived in England, and my twin brother in Canada since we were old enough to really be on our own. Neither one of them ever really liked the idea of me serving, but I didn't care. But when I came home the last time, and both of them were in the airport waiting for me, all dressed up in their own uniforms, I was shocked. Not nearly as shocked, though, as when they ran over and latched onto me." he sighed. "I had never seen either of them cry before that day... I decided then and there that I wouldn't be going back for another tour, and as soon as I was able to I resigned. I couldn't let them go through that again..."

"They had been worried about you."

"They were at the airport every time soldiers were supposed to be coming back to the US. Now that might not be a big leap for my twin, but for my older bro?"

The vet smiled, sitting the dogtags down on the bed beside him. Jan saw the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, but didn't say anything as they pulled up to the hospital docking bay. She helped him out of the back of the ambulance, handing him over to a nurse with a wheelchair, and gave the man a salute before retrieving the dogtags and walking over to get back in the front with Alfred. There was a hundred dollar bill sitting on her seat, which she took, and handed back to him with his tags.

"Keep it. I heard you got a girl in the house now. It might come in handy."

"Yeah I guess, I-" he cut off, looking at the chain his dog tags were on, and couldn't help the little gasp that escaped him when he saw another tag there, a much older one. "He left me a momento Jan."

"Ha, I guess we'll be seeing him more often then."

"I guess so."


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Hazards

Alfred muttered under his breath as he got out of his car, glaring at the men busily washing one of the trucks at the fire station. One of the rookies was cleaning up the soot covered control panel for the truck's ladder, while one of the older men was cleaning the ladder itself. He was a bit concerned over the sight, it had only been a few months since he had nearly taken a tumble over the side of the ladder while it was extended, all because a rookie hit the wrong switch.

"Hey Brown! Don't knock Johnson off alright?!"

The rookie whipped around, his face red. "That was one time!"

"And I'm not likely to forget it anytime soon!" Alfred shouted back, heading inside. Chief Cash smirked, throwing an empty can at the man, who in turn caught it, only to toss it into a collection bin a few feet to his right.

"Glad to have you back Jones. Heard you've had a pretty rough week with Cyr."

"Day one with Cyr was rough, the rest kinda evened out some." he shrugged, passing his boss to head into the kitchen just off the garage. Cash followed closely, but sat in a chair at the bar they had built in the room. "You need something sir?"

"I heard about what happened before you took off for vacation. I think that's a record for closing a case. You sure you'll be able to explain to a jury how you connected all those dots?"

"Of course I can."

"Well I might just have to show up and find out myself... how's the kid doing anyway? You must've kept up with him, right?"

"He and his mom are living with me now."

"What?" now that really got the chief's attention.

"Yeah. Savannah jacked my house keys the day I got Davie back, and by the time he got released from the hospital, Savannah had already gone to my landlord and had him add her and Davie to my papers. Brock got a kick out of it for some reason..."

"I'm getting a kick out of it! It's about time you found a woman and settled down, but kid I can't help but question how it happened."

Alfred snorted, digging around in the freezer to produce his well hidden mini-apple pie. Cash eyed it in jealousy, wondering how the hell the blonde had been able to hide the small box in the freezer for a month, when every person at the station had dug through that thing looking for every little goody it had to offer. "So, any interesting calls while I've been away?"

"Oh no, you're not changing the subject son." he smirked, and waited for the younger man to finish nuking the pie. After grabbing a fork Alfred walked over to sit with his chief, and started stabbing at the pie. "You must really like this woman to let her move in on her on her own like that."

"Well she kinda lost her apartment in the fire. You know, the fire where I jumped out a window with _her in my arms_."

"You _really_ like her." the blonde got a jab in side. "And what's her son got to think about this? Get out of the hospital to find the detective who figured out where he was had the hots for him mom."

"He took it really well. About... week two he started really pushing us to get together. He's already starting to call me 'dad'." Alfred frowned. "Savannah was the tough one. She pitched a fit when she found out she would have to share a bed with me, but she settled down about it after a few days. It got a little awkward when Davie started pushing us to hook up... We got over it about week three though."

"Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"I asked her out." he took a bite of the pie, but dropped it with a hiss when it burnt his tongue. "Ow!"

"You've gone soft on your time off Jones." a tall, dark haired man walked over, his brown eyes glistening in amusement. "You used to be able to eat something so fresh out of the oven the rest of us had to wait an hour just to _touch_ it."

"Shut up Travis, I have not gone soft." Alfred smirked. "I just got used to a woman's cooking."

"Oh yeah?"

"She plates it and mmm just the right temperature to dig right in."

"Glad you like it so much!" the men whipped around when Savannah's voice reached them, and Alfred got to his feet when she walked their way, all dressed up in a nice green sundress with cute silver sandals. She sneered at Cash and Travis over Alfred's shoulder when he leaned down to kiss her cheek, then held up a tin Captain America lunch box.

"I thought you might enjoy a homemade lunch today."

"Mm whatcha make?"

"Reubens, nice and filling for a hard-day's work." she smirked. "And safe, since not many people can stomach real sauerkraut."

"Real?"

"I like to take trips to a nice German store I found a while back. Everything's straight from Germany, completely authentic." Alfred opened the tin, and sure enough the smell of the sauerkraut made Travis back away. Savannah snickered, then turned her head to meet Alfred's lips when he made to kiss her cheek again. The lunch box snapped closed so he could wrap his arms around her, pulling her flush against him for a second before letting her go.

"See you when you're off Alfred."

"Of course." he watched her strut away, then pulled his reubens out of the box- holding them securely in one hand- before hurling the tin at Travis, who was staring after the woman until Captain America made contact with his face. "She's mine Travis, stop undressing her with your eyes!"

Travis couldn't reply, too busy holding his broken nose. He did, however, shoot the man a dirty look before retreating from the room. Cash shook his head in disappointment, sliding Alfred's abandoned pie over to eat.

"Stop hurting the man just because you have a beautiful woman. You know he could never land one as half as good."

Alfred laughed, nodding in agreement. He retrieved the lunch box before returning to his seat and beginning to eat the delicious homemade sandwiches Savannah had made for him. The chief eyed the odd smelling meal in a mixture of curiosity and disgust.

"The other's are gonna start callin' you "kraut" kid."

"Oh ha ha." he paused between bites to narrow his eyes at the bald old man. "I'll take the hose to them."

"They might just take it to you if you keep eating those things."


End file.
